Helen Mirren Didn’t Tell Anyone on Set About Her ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ Injury
Helen Mirren recently made her DC Extended Universe debut in Shazam! Fury of The Gods. The actor said she did a few of her stunts in the movie, resulting in a painful injury. However, Mirren refused to tell anyone on the set of Shazam! 2 that she had gotten hurt.
Helen Mirren causes trouble as the villain Hespera in ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’
In the first Shazam! movie, a young Billy Batson is chosen by the ancient wizard Shazam to succeed him as his champion. Billy gains superpowers allowing him to transform into an adult superhero. He and his foster brother, Freddy, work to discover Billy’s new powers, and along the way, Billy shares his powers with his foster siblings, defeating the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana.
The long-awaited sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods recently premiered, and this time, Billy and his siblings have two extremely powerful celestials to defeat. Hespera and Kalypso head to Earth to reclaim magic they believe was stolen from them long ago. Billy and his siblings jump back into action to fight Atlas’ angry, devious daughters and prevent them from using a world-ending weapon.
Actors Zachary Levi and Asher Angel return as the adult and teen Shazam, the superhero with the powers of various Greek gods, including Hercules, Zeus, Achilles, Atlas, and Mercury. Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody reprise their roles as Freddy, while Rachel Zegler plays Anthea, one of Atlas’ daughters. In addition, Ross Butler and Ian Chen return as Eugene Choi, while Faithe Herman and Meagan Good play Darla Dudley.
Grace Fulton takes over from Michelle Borth as Billy’s older foster sister, while D.J. Cotrona and Jovan Armand portray Pedro Peña, Billy’s shy older foster brother. Djimon Hounsou also reprises his role as the wizard Shazam.
Charlie’s Angels star Lucy Liu takes on the role of Kalypso, while Helen Mirren plays her sister, Hespera.
And Gal Gadot makes a cameo as Wonder Woman, providing a connection between Shazam! Fury of the Gods and upcoming DC Extended Universe projects.
Helen Mirren hid her injury on the set of ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’
Mirren may play a mighty god in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, but her on-set injury proves she’s human.
In a recent sit-down on The Graham Norton Show, the star revealed she sustained a finger injury during filming but kept quiet about it.
Showing her left pinky to the audience, Mirren said, “I broke it on one of the stunts, but I was incredibly brave, and I didn’t say anything because I wanted to be a real stuntperson … So I didn’t complain.”
The 1923 star, who admitted she didn’t perform all her stunts, gushed about working with stunt coordinators.
“We have these incredible stuntpeople. They are extraordinary,” she said.
Mirren also praised the film’s stunt team in an interview with ET. “When you’re in that stunt world, the stuntpeople are so brave, and you want to be accepted by them,” she said. “I’m sucking up to the stuntpeople.”
The actor called the Shazam! Fury of the Gods stunt performers “the cool kids,” admitting, “I wanted to be accepted by them, so I was not going to complain about my finger.”
Critics weigh in on ‘Shazam! 2’
Shazam! Fury of the Gods saw a lukewarm opening weekend at the box office and has received mixed critical reviews.
Jeff Nelson of Showbiz Cheat Sheet gives the movie three out of five stars and says, “It has its heart in the right place, matched with enthusiastic performances all around. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a step down from its predecessor, but it means well.”
Claudia Puig of FilmWeek writes, “Neither Mirren nor unicorns are enough to make this worth seeing.”
And Observer’s Wendy Ide says, “Billy’s inane babbling gets a little wearing, but the action sequences, featuring dragon-based mayhem, cyclopes, and an army of formidable hell unicorns hopped up on candy, are pacy and fun.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods faced numerous release date changes before its March 2023 premiere. The superhero movie was initially set to debut on Apr. 1, 2022, but got pushed back to that November before being delayed further to Jun. 2, 2023, due to the pandemic. However, Warner Bros. moved the film up to Dec. 16, 2022, because it was ready for release but pushed it back to December 21 to avoid competing with Avatar: The Way of Water. Finally, in August 2022, the studio settled on a March 2023 date.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods premiered at the TCL Chinese Theater on Mar. 9, 2023, and opened nationwide on March 17.
